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-   -   Anyone have audeze isine 20? (https://www.audioaficionado.org/showthread.php?t=39016)

Mouse 04-04-2017 03:12 PM

Anyone have audeze isine 20?
 
I'm looking for very nice in-ear headphone for walking outdoors.
What do you think of the iSINE20?
I'm not able to demo it in store, I'd have to order it online.
I'm using the bose and I love the comfort with the sized silicone tips and the iphone compatability, I just hope for better sound and willing to try something high end.
Do the iSINE ear loops annoy you?

Masterlu 04-04-2017 05:16 PM

I recently got to hear a pair and was mighty impressed both by their small size, and really great sound.

They are a remarkable achievement. :yes:

Weirdcuba 04-04-2017 05:57 PM

Paul McGowan at psaudio sent a blurb praising them highly.

Mouse 04-04-2017 06:10 PM

I have one on order!

Mouse 04-12-2017 05:34 PM

It just came in!
While not quite as lifelike as my SF 03 towers, it's far clearer than my bose in ear.
My in ear Bose has some heavier bass, and loud highs but the mids isn't clear and that's where the vocals are. The iSINE 20 in ear is clearer and sounds more balanced (for lack of experience describing sound). If I had to complain I'm used to stronger bass, the equalizer doesn't do much. The silicone tip size helps the most. The smallest one preinstalled from the factory had very little base, the largest tip is a big improvement.

The bad news:
Ergonomics. Bose is far more ergonomically correct. My iSINE20 comes with either earhooks, or the surefire earlock retention rings. I love my bose StayHear silicone tips. The surefire earlock retention rings come in two sizes M and L, but they really feel like XS and XL. Their M isn't big enough to grip in my ear at all, and the L is so big it's hard to get in. The L ring gets a crinkle in it and if not just right it pushes the earphone out. After about 30 minutes the ear tip starts feeling hard like it will bruise my ear. The iphone control cable is a bulky compared to bose; it does have to store a DAC too so that's some extra weight on an ill fit headphone.

Then I switch to the plastic hooks. It's taking weight of my ear canal so that's good. The hooks feel cheaply made compared to the rest of the package, and they are flat instead of following the curvature of the head. While the hook is between my ear and my head on the top of the ear, on the back of the ear the hook hangs out past my ear a little bit. It feels strange. It's a small challenge to get on and off; instead of popping in on with one hand like I'm used to I have to use 2 hands for each side.

My next problem is that the device isn't recognized by my iphone about 3 times. I don't think that's a problem with Audeze, I think that's a failure on Apple's part.


Will I keep them? I'm not sure yet, but probably. After I got the right silicone tip in I really love the sound. I'm not sure I'll get past the ergonomics. I expected more from high end earphones. I'll post an update after a week or so exercising in them.

Mouse 04-13-2017 01:37 PM

I must say Audeze seems to have top notch service. Very responsive company.

Mouse 04-14-2017 12:44 PM

Small update from day 2:
Day two was more comfortable.
I can get each ear on one handed.
I didn't have any issues with iphone compatibility unlike day one.
For some reason the bass was very heavy compared to day one. Day one the bass line was nearly non existent unless I really cranked it to 50% volume or higher. Day 2 the bass was clear and about what I expect even at low to normal volumes.

There was actually more bass than my bose earphone on day 2, and I'm noticing more deep notes I didn't remember on familiar songs with a bose earphone. I'm hearing my songs and noticing details I wasn't catching before.

I think something was wrong with the inline DAC. On day one I could move the bass all the way up or down on the equalizer and no change.

The open back spiderweb design amplifies wind noise depending on wind direction. (not in an electronic way, it just catches wind like crazy)

I love the sound quality, but I still think the ergonomics need help. I ordered the Shure se846 to see which I prefer.

Mouse 04-20-2017 06:19 PM

I like this more now after spending more time with it. I'm keeping it for sure.
Here's my update.
The bass is awesome. I think the DAC was glitching because with zero changes the bass went from absent to very deep.
I don't have the right terminology, but I think I'm experiencing amazing separation. Jack White does this duet with a female on a song called "love interruption." I normally don't care for the song, but hearing it with the iSINE 20 the song sounded brilliant and I love it. Before I could tell at times it was a duet but instead of hearing both people I'd mostly hear the average of 2 people singing. Now I can clearly hear both Jack and the woman sing at the same time. The sound is quite exceptional for something so small. Human voice is more lifelike, musical instruments become suddenly more vibrant. I'm picking up more details like the reverberation of voice in some artists, or maybe when the artists slides his hand across the guitar quickly. I hear details I don't normally pick up.

The not so bad:
The DAC/Iphone cable is a little glitchy still though I prefer this method for iphone listening. Occasionally music stops and I have to replug it in. I blame Apple for thi as some accessories provided by apple can be glitchy too.
I can go 2-3 hours wearing it now, but by the end of 2 hours I begin to feel the pressure of a big metal object pushing on my ear canal. (It used to be 1 hour before discomfort) The ear loops feels less annoying, I accept this as a limitation of the technology.
The flat lightning cable is flat and wide like a fettuccini noodle. The phone in and out of my pockets gets tangled very quickly compared to a normal wire.

The phone controller needs to be moved down another inch or so. It's placed right where I would have wanted to clip it to my shirt. The DAC/controller is heavy so when I clip to my shirt underneath the controller it puts extra weight on the ear. I clip just above the controller and now there isn't enough cable for my head to move around freely. To accommodate it I just clip it higher up on my shirt, but the weight makes the clip slide back down after moving around a lot. It's really a small thing but I think they could do better, or perhaps I have high expectations.

If you are considering this I don't think you'll be let down by sound quality. I don't have the experience most of you have, but I'm thrilled by the sound. I don't really care for the ergonomics and I think they have a lot to improve upon but it's not so bad that I wouldn't try it.

I'm comparing it a lot to my new SHURE se846 too. It's an unfair comparison because the iSINE 20 has a built in DAC and the SHURE uses the iphone DAC. If you care though, the iSINE 20 has significantly better sound to my ears, but I understand the Shure is handicapped so it's not a true comparison. However it is a fair comparison because they both plug directly to my phone when I walk around my neighborhood. Shure is working on a lightning cable so that may soon change.

usbyte 05-20-2017 11:23 AM

I have been using the isine 10 for 2 weeks now. its amazing, very clear sound with wide soundstage. I hear the isine 20 is even better

Monisi 05-28-2017 11:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mouse (Post 842905)
I like this more now after spending more time with it. I'm keeping it for sure.
Here's my update.
The bass is awesome. I think the DAC was glitching because with zero changes the bass went from absent to very deep.
I don't have the right terminology, but I think I'm experiencing amazing separation. Jack White does this duet with a female on a song called "love interruption." I normally don't care for the song, but hearing it with the iSINE 20 the song sounded brilliant and I love it. Before I could tell at times it was a duet but instead of hearing both people I'd mostly hear the average of 2 people singing. Now I can clearly hear both Jack and the woman sing at the same time. The sound is quite exceptional for something so small. Human voice is more lifelike, musical instruments become suddenly more vibrant. I'm picking up more details like the reverberation of voice in some artists, or maybe when the artists slides his hand across the guitar quickly. I hear details I don't normally pick up.

The not so bad:
The DAC/Iphone cable is a little glitchy still though I prefer this method for iphone listening. Occasionally music stops and I have to replug it in. I blame Apple for thi as some accessories provided by apple can be glitchy too.
I can go 2-3 hours wearing it now, but by the end of 2 hours I begin to feel the pressure of a big metal object pushing on my ear canal. (It used to be 1 hour before discomfort) The ear loops feels less annoying, I accept this as a limitation of the technology.
The flat lightning cable is flat and wide like a fettuccini noodle. The phone in and out of my pockets gets tangled very quickly compared to a normal wire.

The phone controller needs to be moved down another inch or so. It's placed right where I would have wanted to clip it to my shirt. The DAC/controller is heavy so when I clip to my shirt underneath the controller it puts extra weight on the ear. I clip just above the controller and now there isn't enough cable for my head to move around freely. To accommodate it I just clip it higher up on my shirt, but the weight makes the clip slide back down after moving around a lot. It's really a small thing but I think they could do better, or perhaps I have high expectations.

If you are considering this I don't think you'll be let down by sound quality. I don't have the experience most of you have, but I'm thrilled by the sound. I don't really care for the ergonomics and I think they have a lot to improve upon but it's not so bad that I wouldn't try it.

I'm comparing it a lot to my new SHURE se846 too. It's an unfair comparison because the iSINE 20 has a built in DAC and the SHURE uses the iphone DAC. If you care though, the iSINE 20 has significantly better sound to my ears, but I understand the Shure is handicapped so it's not a true comparison. However it is a fair comparison because they both plug directly to my phone when I walk around my neighborhood. Shure is working on a lightning cable so that may soon change.



Hi Mouse,
Thank you for your precise and punctual review! :thumbsup:

I've bought an ISine 20 since two weeks and I have to say you are right. I agree absolutely with you about the ergonomics clip on our shirt and insertion into ears, they are really uncomfortable and faraway under the average of this earphones. :icon_thumbsdown:
But I have to say i've tried and listened them for 1h an half before to decide buying it. :music:
The sound's quality it's amazing for a small bug and still could be compared to other big ones... :thumbsup:


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